For various reasons linked in particular to better comfort during use (softness, emollience and others), current cosmetic compositions are usually in the form of an emulsion of the oil-in-water (O/W) type composed of an aqueous dispersing continuous phase and of an oily dispersed discontinuous phase or of an emulsion of the water-in-oil (W/O) type composed of an oily dispersing continuous phase and of an aqueous dispersed discontinuous phase. W/O emulsions are the most in demand in the cosmetics field due to the fact that they comprise, as an external phase, an aqueous phase which gives them, during the application to the skin, a fresher, less greasy and lighter feel than W/O emulsions.
Moreover, in order to improve the feel properties of these emulsions, it is possible to use silicone elastomers; these compounds provide softness but may be difficult to stabilize in the emulsion and require the use of surfactants.
However, the addition of surfactants leads to a loss of transparency of the product since the emulsion generally has a size of the oil drops or oily globules that is around one micron. These oily globules therefore strongly scatter the light and the emulsion then has a white colour.
Emulsions are known, for example from document EP 1 415 645, which comprise a silicone elastomer and crosslinked AMPS-derived amphiphilic polymers such as the products sold under the name Hostacerin AMPS sold by Hoechst. These crosslinked polymers result in emulsions that have a more translucent appearance but which are difficult to stabilize in the case where it is desired to obtain fluid textures, since a phenomenon of creaming of the emulsion occurs.
There is therefore a need to produce oil-in-water emulsions that have a satisfactory translucent appearance, confer a soft, fresh and light feel on the skin, give a non-greasy effect to the skin and that are stable whatever their viscosity and can therefore be formulated in a wide range of textures (sprayable fluid to thick cream).